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Building Trust and Breaking Downthe Wall: The Use of Restorative Justice to

Repair Police-Community RelationshipsLaura Merkey*

I. INTRODUCTION

The town of Ferguson, Missouri, captured national attention when agrand jury failed to indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer who shot andkilled Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, three months prior.' Simi-lar citizen deaths involving police in both New York City and Cleveland havemagnified the tensions felt across the country, and in many cities and com-munities, the community-police relationships are rapidly becoming untena-

2ble. Baltimore, Maryland, is a prime example; protests, riots, and an atmos-phere of mistrust pervaded the city for months after the deaths of Michael

3Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice. The situation was, simply put, a pow-der keg waiting to explode.

Our traditional justice system is simply not adequately responding to allof the issues currently confronting society. A new strategy needs to be putinto place, and quickly. An answer can be found within the practice of re-storative justice. A proactive initiative, targeted at sparking authentic com-

* J.D. Candidate, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, 2016;Winner of the University of Missouri School of Law's Center for the Study of Dis-pute Resolution National Writing Competition. The author would like to thank Pro-fessors Deborah Eisenberg and Toby Guerin for their encouragement in writing thisArticle. The author would like to dedicate this work to her grandparents, Ronald andKathryn Merkey, Jeannette and Paul Marx, and Donald and Shirley Crouch.

1. See Moni Basu, Holly Yan & Dana Ford, Fires, Chaos Erupt in FergusonAfter Grand Jury Doesn't Indict in Michael Brown Case, CNN (Nov. 25, 2014),http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/24/justice/ferguson-grand-jury/ (outlining the timelineof the city's response to the grand jury decision, highlighting incidents of looting,violence, and arson that culminated in Governor Jay Nixon calling for additionalmembers of the Missouri National Guard).

2. See Brent Staples, Hope and Anger at the Garner Protests, N.Y. TIMES(Dec. 5, 2014), http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/06/opinion/hope-and-anger-at-the-garner-protests.html (describing demonstrations in cities throughout the country,voicing outrage and frustration over the police shootings, and rallying behind theslogans "I Can't Breathe" and "Black Lives Matter," which allude to the Eric Garnerand Michael Brown shootings, respectively).

3. See, e.g., Justin George & Jessica Anderson, Ferguson Protesters Take toBaltimore Streets, BALT. SUN (Nov. 25, 2014), http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-ferguson-protests-20141125-story.html (de-scribing the demonstrations and protests staged in Baltimore in the weeks followingthe events in Ferguson, Missouri).

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munication between police, public officials, and the communities they serve,would begin to eliminate the wall that has come between citizens and thepolice.

Additionally, a concurrent, reactive approach that utilizes restorativejustice techniques, particularly restorative circles, needs to be adopted as anappropriate response to traumatic events that involve both the community andthe local police. Only once the community is engaged and a level of trust isestablished between officers and citizens can strong relationships be built. Itis these relationships that hold the most promise for withstanding traumaticevents that challenge the community.

II. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

Restorative justice, or the idea of focusing on the needs of victims, of-fenders, and the affected communities, is not a particularly novel concept; infact, its core values parallel the practices of ancient cultures spanning theglobe. As Norwegian sociologist and criminologist Nils Christie noted in hisgroundbreaking article, Conflicts as Property, in 1977, the criminal justicesystem as a whole has taken criminal conflicts from the parties and has madethem the property of others, primarily lawyers.4 Christie explains that"[m]odern criminal control systems represent one of the many cases of lostopportunities for involving citizens in tasks that are of immediate importanceto them."5 As a result, Christie explains, the victim never has the chance tocome to know the offender and the offender in turn has "lost the opportunityto explain himself to a person [whose] evaluation of him might have mattered... [and he has also] lost one of the most important possibilities for being

forgiven.Restorative justice builds on this concept of conflicts as the property of

the parties and seeks to use a process of direct, usually facilitated, communi-cation with the affected community and the offender. As alternative disputeresolution ("ADR") expert Carrie Menkel-Meadow wrote, "In its most ideal-ized form, there are four Rs of restorative justice: repair, restore, reconcile,and reintegrate the offenders and victims to each other and to their sharedcommunity. The main goal of restorative justice is to heal all individualsdirectly affected by a crime or bad act. 8 The criminal justice system has usedrestorative justice as a means of mediation between victims and offenders,particularly within the juvenile court system, since the 1970s. 9 It is widely

4. Nils Christie, Conflicts as Property, 17 BRIT. J. CRIM. 1, 1 (1977).5. Id. at 7.6. Id. at 9.7. Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Restorative Justice: What Is It and Does It Work?,

3 ANN. REV. L. & Soc. ScI. 161, 162 (2007).8. Id.9. Id. at 163.

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used in schools and the community as a strategy to keep young people out ofcourt.'0

Restorative justice has been used in a broader context as well. As Men-kel-Meadow has noted, restorative justice commissions "are designed to healthe nation-state or civil community by allowing many narratives of hurt andharm to be told and by creating new collective narratives of the truth so that asociety can begin anew with transformative understandings of both its pastand its future."" Restorative justice processes involve many stakeholdersand produce more authentic communication and thus more genuine under-standing. Researchers have found that rates of compliance with regulationsare higher when regulated industries and corporate actors are actively en-gaged in the discussions with the regulators. 2 It is logical to see how such astrategy employed in the corporate arena, heavily influenced by power dy-namics, could also be utilized in a community that has a high police presenceand is also strained by power dynamics.

One particularly effective restorative justice process that is widely usedin communities is the restorative circle. 13 Similar to the restorative confer-ence, which is a more structured meeting between offenders, victims, andimpacted parties used to help all parties deal with the consequences of a par-ticular wrongdoing and decide how to best repair the harm, a restorative cir-cle can be used proactively or as a response to an emerging conflict. 14 Re-storative circles can both respond to problems as well as build relationshipsand a sense of community.' 5 Within the circle, members share their perspec-tives in an atmosphere of safety and equality, in contrast to traditional meet-ing formats, which can sometimes be hindered by a sense of hierarchies, win-lose positioning, or other factors.16

Some jurisdictions across the country are already using innovative ADRprocesses to rehabilitate police officer-community relationships. An excel-lent example of a restorative circle used to address a collectively felt wrong isthe case of the 2010 Seattle police shooting of John T. Williams. 7 Williamswas a Native American wood carver who had a history of misdemeanor of-

10. See generally Ted Wachtel, Defining Restorative, INT'L INST. FORRESTORATIVE PRACTICES (2013), http://www.iirp.edu/pdf/Defining-Restorative.pdf(providing an overview and history of restorative practices).

11. Menkel-Meadow, supra note 7, at 169.12. Id.13. Id. at 167; see also Wachtel, supra note 10, at 7.14. Watchel, supra note 10, at 7 8.15. Id.16. Id.17. See Steve Miletich, Extraordinary Meeting Followed Carver's Fatal Shoot-

ing by Seattle Officer, SEATTLE TIMES, http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/extraordinary-meeting-followed-carvers-fatal-shooting-by-seattle-officer/ (lastupdated Feb. 3, 2011) (reporting on the restorative circle that took place betweenpolice officers and the family of John T. Williams).

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fenses and alcoholism.18 While carrying a piece of wood and a small carvingknife one afternoon, Williams encountered Seattle police officer Ian Birk. 19

Officer Birk yelled at Williams three times to drop his knife.20 Officer Birklater said that he felt threatened and that this was the reason why he fatallyshot Williams from a distance of nine feet.21 The shooting ignited tensionsbetween the Seattle police department and the Native American community,resulting in highly emotional demonstrations and protests.2 2 The feelings ofanger and mistrust were mutual; one year before the Williams shooting, twopolice officers were shot and killed while sitting in their marked car.23 They

24were targeted because they were police.One of the attorneys for the Williams family, Andrea Brenneke, wrote

an extensive account of the aftermath of the shooting.25 She noted that theWilliams family felt unfairly singled out and harassed by members of the

26Seattle police department after the shooting. The situation had reached aboiling point. Brenneke, an ADR practitioner, suggested that the Williamsfamily, members of the police force, and affected members of the communityparticipate in a restorative circle in order to deescalate the tension and worktoward a level of better mutual understanding.2 Brenneke describes how sheand the other leaders of the restorative circle modified the process to fit thesituation by holding pre-circle meetings and creating written summaries ofthe process to share with the participants. 28 The leaders of the circle decidedthat the details of the shooting would be off-limits because an investigationwas already in process, and civil and criminal liability was at stake. 2 9 As sheexplains, "[A]ll of these were obvious barriers to open and direct communica-tion. Yet, we realized we didn't need to talk about the details of the shooting

18. Andrea Brenneke, A Restorative Circle in the Wake of a Police Shooting,TIKKUN (Feb. 1, 2012), http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/a-restorative-circle-in-the-wake-of-a-police-shooting; Lynda V. Mapes, Carver's Death a Violent End to a Tor-mented Life, SEATTLE TIMES (Oct. 15, 2010), http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/carvers-death-a-violent-end-to-a-tormented-life/.

19. Steve Miletich, Woodcarver was Shot Four Times in His Side by Officer,Autopsy Shows, SEATTLE TIMES (Oct. 5, 2010), http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/woodcarver-was-shot-four-times-in-his-side-by-officer-autopsy-shows/.

20. Id.21. Brenneke, supra note 18 (account of the Williams family's lawyer, depicting

the aftermath of the shooting and the genesis of the idea for a restorative circle).22. Id.23. Id.24. Id.25. Id.26. Id.27. Id.28. Id.29. Id.

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itself to address the dynamics and conditions that gave rise to it and continuedafter it." 30

Instead, for over three hours, the restorative circle focused on the inter-actions and ongoing conflicts between the family and the officers and whateach participant thought the solutions to the conflicts should be.31 The em-phasis of the restorative circle became a recognized need for mutual respect,

32particularly among the newer officers and the Native American carvers.Brenneke believes that the restorative circle built new relationships that havedeepened over time, and that "the shared understanding and connections fromthe Restorative Circle enabled peaceful and efficient navigation of ongoing,serious challenges and turned further devastating circumstances into addi-tional opportunities for healing. 3 3

Skeptics of restorative justice processes argue that these processes canand will be "manipulated, corrupted, co-opted, and deformed to produce op-pression, more state surveillance and discipline, and more inappropriate so-cial control. 34 However, the advantage of a restorative process is its flexi-bility. A circle or conference can be tailored to meet the specific needs of theparticular community. It is facilitated by neutral, impartial parties and addi-tional safeguards can be added to the process as necessary. The process isvoluntary; no one person can be coerced into participating against his or herwill. A restorative process focuses on the victim, offender, and the affectedparties, not the system; therefore, they can control the process without fear ofinterference from an outside system's or an individual's personal agenda.

III. BALTIMORE

Baltimore, Maryland, is among the communities that were significantlyimpacted by the events in Ferguson, Cleveland, and New York. In themonths following the grand jury decision in Ferguson, multiple demonstra-tions showing solidarity with Ferguson protesters or calling for an end topolice brutality shut down major interstates and roadways around the city forhours.35 A Baltimore Sun article described one such protest, reporting that"[s]ome protesters came within inches of police officers, who did not reacteven as they were called the 'klan."' 36 The issue of police brutality is not anovel one in Baltimore; in September 2014, the Sun reported that over $5.7million had been paid over a three-year period in both court judgments and

30. Id.31. Id.32. Id.33. Id.34. Menkel-Meadow, supra note 7, at 171.35. George & Anderson, supra note 3.36. Id.

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settlements in police misconduct suits, which activists say contributed tostrong feelings of mistrust in Baltimore.3

In one demonstration in January 2015, protestors against police brutalityannounced on a loudspeaker that they planned to deliver a letter to policeheadquarters, calling for an end to systematic racism as well as the indictmentand firing of officers who they believed terrorized and endangered communi-ties.3 s The group became upset because they believed that the police thenunconstitutionally prevented them from delivering the letter. 39 Baltimorepolice stated that they would have accepted the letter if they had known of thegroup's intentions.4 0 The incident could have been an ideal opportunity forprotestors and city officials to discuss their perspectives and generate poten-tial solutions to this conflict. Instead, the event resulted in magnified feelingsof resentment and anger between both groups.

Tensions between the police and community members in Baltimoreerupted after April 12, 2015, when twenty-five-year-old Freddie Gray waspursued by foot and subsequently arrested by Baltimore city police officers.4'After his arrest, Freddie Gray was shackled and placed without a seatbelt into

42a police van, contrary to the procedure required. The exact timeline is un-clear, but it is known that the van made several unscheduled stops on its wayto Baltimore's Western District Police Station, and at some point during thetransport, Freddie Gray was severely injured.43 By the time the van arrived atthe station, he was no longer breathing.4 4 Freddie Gray died one week lateras a result of a spinal cord injury.45

News of Freddie Gray's death sparked an immediate reaction. Aftertwo days of primarily peaceful marches that virtually shut down Baltimore,

46violence erupted, and the city was faced with riots, looting, and fires. At

37. Mark Puente, Undue Force, BALT. SUN (Sept. 28, 2014),http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/police-settlements/.

38. Barry Sims, Protestors: Police Blocked Them From Delivering Letter,WBALTV (Jan. 16, 2015), http://www.wbaltv.com/news/protesters-police-blocked-them-from-delivering-letter/30763780.

39. Id.40. Id.41. Arrest to Death: What Happened to Freddie Gray, CBS NEWS (May 1,

2015), http://www.cbsnews.com/news/arrest-to-death-what-happened-to-freddie-gray/; see also, Justine George & Kevin Rector, Baltimore Officer Said Freddie GrayAsked for Help, BALT. SUN (Sept. 26, 2015), http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-officer-statements-20150926-story.html.

42. Arrest to Death: What Happened to Freddie Gray, supra note 41.43. Id.44. Id.45. David A. Graham, The Mysterious Death of Freddie Gray, ATLANTIC (Apr.

22, 2015), http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-mysterious-death-of-freddie-gray/391119/.

46. Greg Botelho et al., Baltimore Protests: Crowds, Police Stand Off After Cur-few, CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-riots/index.html (last updat-ed Apr. 29, 2015).

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least fifteen officers were injured, buildings and cars across the city weredestroyed, and hundreds of people were arrested.4 The violence culminatedin Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declaring a state of emergency and de-ploying thousands of National Guard members and law enforcement officersfrom neighboring jurisdictions to help quell the unrest.4 8 Baltimore MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blake also instituted a mandatory 10:00 p.m. curfew fora week following the unrest.49 In other cities across the country, such as Se-attle, Portland, and Oakland, crowds of hundreds staged demonstrations insupport of Baltimore protesters, several of which involved clashes with offic-ers.50 Only a few short days after these events, Marilyn Mosby, BaltimoreCity State's Attorney, handed down several indictments for all six officersinvolved in Freddie Gray's arrest and transport.5'

IV. THE SOLUTION

This is not the first time in history that Baltimore and other communitiesacross the nation have experienced civil unrest and tension between publicservants and the community. Vernon Herron, Senior Policy Analyst for theUniversity of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security, is the for-mer Director of Homeland Security for Prince George's County, Maryland,as well as a twenty-year veteran and former leader within the Maryland State

52Police. In the wake of the events in Ferguson and Cleveland, Herron wrotean editorial that suggested that within Baltimore and the policing communityat large, a shift in focus is necessary in order for there to be an improvementin the police-community relationships.5 3 Primarily, Herron points to the needfor increased officer training on community relations and, similarly, more

47. Id.48. Holly Yan & Dana Ford, Baltimore Riots: Looting, Fires Engulf City After

Freddie Gray's Funeral, CNN (last updated Apr. 28, 2015), http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/27/us/baltimore-unrest/.

49. Botelho et al., supra note 46.50. Ralph Ellis, Ed Payne & Pat St. Claire, In Philadelphia, Police Clash With

Supporters of Baltimore Protests, CNN (last updated May 1, 2015),http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/30/us/nationwide-freddie-gray-protests/index.html.

51. Alan Blinder & Richard Prez-Pefia, 6 Baltimore Police Officers Charged inFreddie Gray Death, N.Y. TIMES (May 1, 2015), http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/us/freddie-gray-autopsy-report-given-to-baltimore-prosecutors.html; Jean Mar-bella, Six Baltimore Police Officers Charged in Freddie Gray's Death, BALT. SUN(May 2, 2015), http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-riots/bs-md-freddie-gray-mainbar-20150501 -story.html.

52. See Vernon Herron, City Takes Steps to Prepare for Protests, CAP. GAZETTE(July 6, 2015), http://www.capitalgazette.com/opinion/columns/ph-ac-ce-herron-column-0706-20150706-story.html.

53. Vernon Herron, Enhancing Police Transparency Takes More Than BodyCameras, U. MD. CTR. FOR HEALTH & HOMELAND SECURITY (Dec. 4, 2015),http://www.mdchhs.com/enhancing-police-transparency-takes-more-than-body-cameras/.

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education for community members on the dynamics of police tactics.54 Her-ron explains that this can only result from continuous engagement betweenboth parties at all times, not merely in the wake of a tragic event.55

In an interview, Herron also discussed the problems associated withprogram funding; primarily, once funding is cut off, the work put in place to

56bridge the gap between community and police can disintegrate. He notedthat "[i]n order for us to be successful this time, we must employ these newstrategies not like a 'program,' but like a 'way of life' both in the police de-partments and the communities .

A 1990s initiative called "Operation People" embodied this "way oflife." Operation People, like the strategies that Herron suggests, incorporated

5 8concepts of both restorative justice and community policing. High-crimeneighborhoods were targeted for the operation, and a group of Maryland statetroopers were handpicked to implement the initiative's goals. 59 The first stepwas to conduct a survey in the neighborhood. 60 The survey was printed on atag, hung on front doors, and included free postage so that answers could bereturned anonymously and without any burden on the community members. 6'The survey contained a short list of questions that assessed perceptions ofpolice and the community as a whole.62 Simultaneously, Operation People'sleaders engaged the local police chief in discussions about the initiatives'

63mechanics and objectives. Without the chief s agreement and support, Op-64eration People would not be willing to enter that particular neighborhood.

Next, a group of state troopers, paired with local police officers, would65enter the community. They would participate in community meetings in

which they engaged in discussions about issues that concerned citizens in that66particular neighborhood and worked with them to brainstorm solutions. For

example, one concerned mother mentioned that it would be easier to keep her67children inside and off of the streets if she had cable. The local cable pro-

vider, however, did not have enough customers willing to pay for the serviceto make it financially worthwhile for them to lay the cable.6 8 After being

54. Id.55. Id.56. Interview with Vernon Herron, Senior Policy Analyst, Univ. of Md. Ctr. for

Health & Homeland Sec., in Balt., Md. (Jan. 21, 2015).57. Id.58. Id.59. Id.60. Id.61. Id.62. Id.63. Id.64. Id.65. Id.66. Id.67. Id.68. Id.

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approached by the troopers, the cable company was willing to bring cable tothe neighborhood in exchange for publicity.6 9 Other citizens requested morebasketball courts and job fairs, all of which Operation People made happen. 0

One citizen voiced her concern that prior to the initiative, she felt like a pris-oner in her own home, unable to drink tea on her front porch because of thedrug dealers down the street. 1 Operation People made it clear to members of

72the community that no issue was too small to tackle.Other activities included having the state trooper and local police teams

do homework with the neighborhood's children and then hang the children'sartwork and high test scores on the command buses parked in the neighbor-

73hood. Every trooper and local police member was required to give his orher pager number to any citizen that requested it.7 4 The initiative also orga-nized an officer-teacher basketball game at a local school, which gave mem-bers of the community an opportunity to see the officers out of their uniformsand as real people, not just members of the police force. 5

Many people, when they have their first encounter with police, encoun-ter an officer for negative reasons whether it be a traffic ticket, a break-in totheir home or vehicle, or an arrest. Operation People's goal was for these

76first encounters with members of the community to be positive experiences.Members of the community would then trust the police and be more willingto serve as their eyes and ears, reporting any incidents that they witnessedwithin their neighborhood.

The key to this operative is community engagement. While all commu-nities may not have the funds to go to the same lengths as Operation People,all stakeholders in a community can still engage in frank and respectful dis-cussion. Regular, open meetings that bring together everyone involvedfrom police officers, city officials, protest leaders, police union leaders, pub-lic defenders, local prosecutors, and community leaders should and must bebrought together to discuss the conflicts burdening their community. Theprogress in these meetings should be tracked by written reports that are post-ed online or distributed to the entire neighborhood. Only then will goodwill,trust, and open rapport be established between police and community mem-bers, hopefully diminishing unnecessary or unwarranted violent encountersbetween police and potential offenders.

If and when any type of wrongdoing occurs, the community should re-spond to the conflict through the use of restorative processes, like the restora-

69. Id.70. Id.71. Id.72. Id.73. Id.74. Id.75. Id.76. Id.77. Id.

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tive circles applied in Seattle. The Community Conferencing Center("CCC") in Baltimore is a "conflict transformation and community justiceorganization that provides ways for people to safely, collectively and effec-tively prevent and resolve conflicts and crime.",7 8 The CCC includes pro-grams that: address conflicts within schools and among students, families,teachers, and administrators; assist juvenile offenders; assist those returningto society from prison; assist soldiers and families who suffer the challengesthat stem from serving in a war; provide serious crime conferencing for thefamilies of victims, offenders and supporters; offer workplace conferencing;

79and address neighborhood conflicts.Lauren Abramson, the founder of the CCC, explained in an interview

that some conflicts that the CCC observes stem from police-community dis-putes, and the conferences give these people in conflict a chance to talk toeach other in a safe space and in a structured way, which gives everyone anequal voice.8° Abramson has seen how the conferences help participants tocome to understand each other's motivations, and the honest conversationsand deepened understanding that result have helped to alleviate some of themistrust embedded within the community."

The CCC is the only broad-based conferencing program in a largeAmerican inner-city, and it provides most of its services at no cost to the par-ticipants.82 The CCC accepts referrals from anywhere, including citizensresponding to an arrest. 83 The CCC conducts outreach to churches and com-munity groups, advertises on the radio, and is active in the school system andthe city government. 84 While over 17,000 residents in Baltimore have partic-ipated in a community conference, there is plenty of room to grow.8 5 Overall,Abramson notes, the culture will not change unless there are more structuresthat encourage people to talk to one another and that motivate all stakeholdersto engage in a better understanding on a policy level. 86

The principles and frameworks established and already employed by theCCC should be utilized more broadly by the Baltimore community and be-

78. About Us, COMMUNITY CONFERENCING CTR., http://www.communityconferencing.org/index.php/about/ (last visited Sept. 26, 2015).

79. Programs & Services, COMMUNITY CONFERENCING CTR.,http://www.communityconferencing.org/index.php/programs/ (last visited Sept. 26,2015).

80. Interview with Lauren Abramson, Founder of the Cmty. Conferencing Ctr.,in Balt., Md. (Jan. 22, 2015).

81. Id.82. Id.83. Id.; see, e.g., Programs and Services: For Law Enforcement, COMMUNITY

CONFERENCING CTR.,http://www.communityconferencing.org/index.php/programs/for law enforcement/(last visited Dec. 22, 2015).

84. Interview with Lauren Abramson, supra note 80.85. Id.86. Id.

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yond. For example, the protest in Baltimore that dissolved into mistrust andanger over a miscommunication about a letter could have been resolved in acommunity conference. An open conference, that included both protest lead-ers and city officials, could have and should have taken place in reaction tothis event. The results could have been published and widely distributed tothe community. Such a conference would increase understanding and be themost likely process to provide a sustainable solution that is mutually satisfy-ing for all parties, and therefore be more likely to be maintained.

V. CONCLUSION

The events in Baltimore, Ferguson, New York, and Cleveland, aswell as the collective fallout from these events, are substantial evidence thatthe violence and mistrust that plagues communities across the nation must beaddressed. The change needs to be one that is both enduring and that restruc-tures how members of society interact with one another, particularly citizensand police officers, by encouraging them to engage in honest discussions withthe goal of gaining mutual understanding and respect. The change also needsto be both proactive and responsive. Restorative justice techniques should beused to build relationships before a catastrophic event strains these relation-ships. Subsequently, restorative circles should be used to fully heal the dam-age caused by such events. Only once this is accomplished will society bemore likely to stabilize, creating the potential to move forward together totackle more positive issues.

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